‘No cutting of trees

‘No cutting of trees near the sago area’: Sago is an important food source for many Papua New Guineans (photo ACF/CELCOR) Habitat destroyed: Industrial logging is contributing to a decline in marsupial, bird and fish numbers, with serious food security consequences for rural Papua New Guineans (photo Tim Anderson) constructed roads. This was highlighted in a report by Dr Christin Kocher Schmid, who spent several years studying the impact of logging on the people of the Vanimo-Kilmeri area in Sandaun Province. Dr Kocher Schmid reported: “Skidding roads are often built across watercourses and not equipped with proper culverts. After rainfall, the creeks on which people are dependent for their water supply are muddy. Worse, the chemicals used to preserve the felled logs from rot further pollute the same water courses.” 58 Concerns about clean water, food security, health and nutrition were raised in numerous interviews for this report. In one case a landowner explained how the notorious Kiunga-Aiambak road, constructed by Concord Pacific, caused many health concerns in his village. 55 Where the poorly designed road went through one village, he reported severe erosion, leading to considerable sediment runoff into the surrounding rivers. The community’s drinking water became increasingly turbid and unsafe to drink, increasing health problems and drying up streams that were once a source for protein and potential hunting grounds. 56 In another case, a landowner described the effect of logging on protein sources and ongoing food security: “On January 1st, 1995, I came to the place where the company was logging. I went to see the forest and the river. The rivers before had plenty of fish, the forest had tree kangaroos sleeping everywhere, the Cassowaries used to drink near the river – but now they are not there. All the birds were gone. This place used to have plenty of animals to hunt, lots of pigs, lots of cassowaries, lots of fish – there was lots of everything. We did not have to look hard for meat or fish. When I went down to the River Agrio and Wasaro I could not speak. When I threw my fishing line in there was no fish. When I went hunting there were no cassowaries. The river was spoilt, the forest was spoilt.” 57 The impact the logging industry has on PNG’s forests exacerbates health and nutrition concerns. When a catchment is logged, it creates erosion and pollutes rivers. One of the most common causes of polluted drinking water sources is poorly Dr Kocher Schmid also found a range of resources collected from the forest that form a crucial part of local people’s health and wellbeing were also being depleted by logging. These included wild mushrooms, grubs and fruit trees used for food and medicine. The destruction of habitat by large scale logging can have serious consequences for food security. Loss of habitat leads directly to a decline in the populations of pigs, birds, marsupials and fish – some of the main sources of protein for rural Papua New Guineans. Logging also damages another vital food source for many Papua New Guineans: sago palms and sago swamps. An environmental and social impact assessment of logging operations in the Vanimo area by Forests Monitor Limited and the Individual and Community Rights Advocacy Forum (ICRAF) found the destruction of sago palms through logging practices represented a major nutritional loss for landowners. Their report also noted the impact on river health: “The activities of VFP [Vanimo Forest Products], particularly the construction of skid tracks through community streams, have increased soil erosion and stream turbidity, which has decreased fish and crayfish recruitment.” 59 The loss of protein sources has a significant effect on women, who are generally responsible for collecting birds and eggs from the forest. Due to logging, women now have to spend more time and travel further to do so. The Forest Monitor/ICRAF assessment found an increase in reports of malnourished pregnant women and low birth weight babies in the Vanimo area. 60 16 BULLDOZING PROGRESS

According to a landowner interviewed by ACF, when logging operations moved into the Vailala concession area in Gulf Province, foreign employees of the logging company started using chemicals to catch fish in the river. They allegedly poured certain chemicals into the river, catching the fish when they died and floated to the surface. Some landowners reported the chemicals used were for spraying logs to kill insects in the timber. Local people still use traditional fishing techniques, such as fishing line and hook, or nets. The chemicals killed prawns and fish that local people used to catch and polluted the drinking water supply of local villages. In 2001, people in two villages – Hepere and Avavu villages in Ihu District – became sick after drinking allegedly polluted water from the river, including three small children (around two or three years old), two young women and one old woman. 61 Destruction of cultural property Large scale logging in PNG frequently destroys places of cultural significance, including sacred sites and artefacts. These sites are an important manifestation of the culture and identity of indigenous communities. Logging operations have also disturbed grave sites. Compensation for such acts of desecration is rarely forthcoming. Stories of the destruction of cultural property have been recounted in many interviews for this report. In one case, a landowner from Wawoi Falls told how a logging company unearthed his brother’s grave: “The company made a road into the area to go and get trees. When they built the road they dug up my brother’s grave… I saw that all the bones of my brother had been dug up and broken. His arm bones and skull were broken. I was very angry when I saw what had happened.” 62 In another case, an interviewee reported the destruction of sacred sites by a logging company. The villagers complained to the company, but they received no compensation. He told CELCOR: “The company did not respect the sacred site. We explained to the company and told them the story about the sacred site, but they came and did a survey plan of this area. They said they did not want to go around the sacred site as the sacred site was in the place where they wanted their road to go. The landowners have a right, but the company did not listen to us and now these days the power of the sacred site has gone because the company has disturbed the site.” 63 This was echoed in another interview, where a man described the way the logging company operating on his land failed to pay compensation for the fruit trees, sacred men’s houses, canoes, houses and other valuable cultural items and assets in their old village that were destroyed by logging operations. 64 Poor working conditions for logging company employees The logging industry in PNG is notorious for its poor working conditions. The lack of safety equipment for workers often leads to serious accidents. A number of incidents have been documented by CELCOR. In one interview a logging employee described how he sustained a serious injury when a welding machine dropped and smashed one of his toes. At the time the accident happened the company allegedly had not provided employees with appropriate boots, hand gloves, masks or other safety equipment. The company denied him assistance with medical expenses and he eventually resigned, being dissatisfied with the company’s treatment of him. 65 Local landowners near Vailala in the Gulf Province expressed concern about the working conditions of logging employees who had come from other provinces, stating: “Employees were dying where they were working… dying of sicknesses…[it was] difficult to repatriate back to their various provinces. And the logging company just said ‘we have nothing to do [with this], you just bury them here’. … There was a medic there [in the logging camp]… the biggest problem is the medications run out.” 66 Other cases involve workers not receiving their wages. As one young woman worker recounted: “While working at Panakawa [logging camp and veneer mill] all of us were told by [a logging company senior manager] that he would open up an account for us to save money. This never happened. Whenever all of us asked him for our money, he would tell us that he has saved it and we should just continue working till we wanted to go home. To date most of us who left Panakawa have not been paid.” 67 In many logging camps workers are prevented from leaving the work area for long periods of time. Due to the isolation of many camps, workers are usually reliant on company transport to get in and out. The remote conditions can create particular concerns for women workers. There have been many allegations of sexual abuse. 68 “[A named senior manager of a logging company] usually gets the girls from our area and arrange for them to sleep with Asians working at the mill. [He] would tell the girls to always go to his house to cook and wait for him whenever they were not working. He has no respect for his own sister [named] who fell pregnant to him. He then took [her] to the Panakawa hospital and got her an abortion.” 69 Women mainly work in low skilled jobs (radio operators and cooks), not specialised areas where they can develop skills. “The problem is many of these young ladies, women, as soon as they go in there they only stay six months. They get pregnant… they’ve been forced by these employees… they tell them ‘OK, you go’ and a new girl comes.” 70 The appalling labour conditions in many logging camps were exposed in a PNG Government review. The Department of Labour and Industrial Relations and the Department of Community Development formed part of an Inter-Agency Forestry Review in 2003 and 2004. In a series of inspections of logging sites the Department of Labour documented a range of concerns. These included a lack of training of workers and no emphasis on skills transfer, contrary to requirements in the National Training Policy. In many cases the Department found no evidence of skills training and transfer to facilitate counterparttraining arrangements. 71 The Department also highlighted numerous occupational health and safety issues. They reported employees were working without safety boots, goggles and earmuffs. In some cases they noted companies had “absolutely no regard for safety and safe work practices.” 72 BULLDOZING PROGRESS 17